Slotted garment boning for end stitching



Dec. 10, 1963 G. BOHM 3,113,322

SLOT'IED GARMENT BONING FOR END s'rrrcnmc Filed Sept. 8. 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. GEORGE BOHM W fla g 24 A TTORNE Y Dec. 10, 1963 e. BOHM SLOTTED GARMENT BONING FOR END STITCHING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 8, 1961 loll! INVENTOR. GEORGE BOHM ATTORNEY United States Patent Office 3,113,322 SLOTTED GARMENT EGNING FUR END STHQHHNG George Bohm, 6% Fort Washington Ave, New York, NY. Filed Sept. 8, 1961, Ser. No. 136,882 3 Claims. (-Cl. 2-257) This invention relates to supporting or reinforcing devices as applied to garments or the like and in particular to stiffening stays as incorporated in body or edge portions of girdles, corsets, brassieres, swim suits or other articles needing such reinforcement.

The type of stays that are referred to herein are usually attached to a garment by sewing them into a pocket of the garment delineated by stitching. After securing the stay in the pocket, the material of the garment is folded on an edge over the end of the stay. Then a line of stitching is provided along the edge of the fold across the end of the stay to hold the stay. The boning material is usually hard and brittle and either the stay or the needle is liable to breakage, when stitched across by a machine.

Many objections are found to the procedure in present use, the most serious of which is the necessity of stopping the sewing machine to skip over the end of the stay so as not to break the needle or the stay, which greatly increases the cost of production and the necessity of frequently re placing needles with the resultant time consuming delay. Also, this method does not properly anchor the stay in place with the result that the stay end moves about and wears the edge of the material in which it is encased.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and means of securing stays in place in material that is to be reinforced, such as in the garments above referred to and to do so in such a manner that they are held securely and are attached to the material with a minimum of time and with no damage to the stay and the needle used in the sewing.

A further object of the invention is to provide a stay or support member which is so constructed that the sewing thereacross need not be interrupted, the structure of the stay being such that the latter as well as the needle is not damaged.

Still further objects of the invention provide for the form of stay in which the slots in the slotted ends thereof are so spaced that the normal feed of the sewing machine will place the needle at each stitch in a slot; to provide openings in the ends of the stay which may be filled with a plastic that can be readily pierced by the needle without danger of breaking the latter; to so shape the entrance to the slots that a needle camrning action will be provided that will facilitate entrance of the needle into the slots even when the spacing of the slots is greater than the normal stitch spacing provided by the sewing machine; and to so shape the ends of the prongs that the spaces therebetween remain constant in width.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a stiffening stay embodying one form of my invention, parts being shown broken away.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of one end of the stay.

FIG. 2A is a plan view of a fragment of a garment with the stay of FIG. 1 applied thereto.

7 FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

3J1 l3,322 Patented Dec. l0, i983 FIG. 3A is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 3A-3A of HG. 2A.

PEG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 of a modified form of stay.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to "FIG. 2 of another modified form of stay.

FIG. 6 is an end view thereof.

H6. 7 is a top plan view of still another modified form of stay shown applied to a garment, parts of the fold of the garment being shown broken away.

*FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 2 of a further modified form of stay.

FIG. 9 is a View similar to "FIG. modified form of stay.

PEG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line ill-ill of FIG. 9.

Referring in detail to the drawings, in FIG. 1 a garment stiffening stay embodying a preferred form of the invention used for stiffening and reinforcing garments such as girdles, corsets, brassieres, swim suits and the like is shown and designated generally by the reference numeral it). The stay lid is formed of plastic, bone, celluloid or other suitable rigid stay material and comprises a rectangularshaped flat thin body 13 with smooth surfaces.

in accordance with the invention, each end of the body is formed with a plurality of slots 15, providing prongs M. The slots are preferably of uniform length and width and are preferably closed. at the inner ends and open at the outer ends thereof. The outer free ends of the prongs are curved and smooth. 'lhe prongs are of uniform width and the width of each prong is approximately slightly below the length of a stitch of the ordinary sewing machine. The number and length of slots and prongs are optional.

in applying a stay in to a fabric garment, the stay is inserted into a pocket of the garment formed between the body portion to of the garment and a strip 18 of fabric fastened thereto by rows of stitching 20 as shown in FIG. 2A. The edges of the garment are then folded over the ends of the stay and the edge of each folded over portion is fastened to the body of the garment by a row of stitching 22 forming a hem 24. During the operation of making the row of stitching 22, the needle of the sewing machine passes through the slots '15 in the end of the stay thereby permitting the stitching operation across the end of the stay. The spacing between the slots 15 is such that the stitching feed action of the sewing machine will cause the material to be fed a distance whereby the needle will pierce the material opposite the slots and hence not damage the stay or the needle.

The modified form of stay lti' shown in FIG. 4 differs from the stay in merely in the cross-sectional shape of the prongs i l. The prongs M are tapered to facilitate entrance of the needle into the slots 15'. The cross-sectional form of the prongs 15 is not intended to 'be limited to the forms shown in M68. 3 and 4 but may be of any shape such as oval, round or the like.

In FIG. 5 another modified form of stay it? is shown. Stay 1% has only two end prongs 14 with a single slot or space 15 therebetween. The slot is plugged with soft material, preferably plastic 26.

In the modified form of stay lit shown in FIG. 7, the free outer ends of the prongs lid are enlarged as indicated at 30, portions of the enlargements facing each other so that the lateral movement of the prongs toward each other is limited thus preventing complete collapse of the space or slots 115 between the prongs. Only three slots 15 and fOlll' prongs 14 are shown. In all other respects, the stay 19 is similar to the stay it? and similar reference numerals are used to indicate similar parts.

The modified form of stay ltl shown in FIG. 8 merely 2 of still a further at both ends by the end edge 32.

Referring now to the modification of the invention shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the stiffening stay id shown herein is similar to the stay to except that instead of the slots 15 of the stay lltl of FIG. 1, each end of the body 113" of the stay 10" is formed with a substantially rectangular-shaped opening 34 occupying the major portion of the end of the body, leaving only narrow side walls 35 and a narrow end wall 38. The end wall 38 is curved to prevent Wear of the stay against the material of the garment, and the adjacent end of the opening 34 is correspondingly curved. The opening 34 is closed by a plug 4d of soft material preferably through which the sewing machine needle is adapted to pass.

In stitching across the open ends of stay lfi, the automatic feed of the material will permit the needle to stitch over the side walls 3 6 and across the plug In all forms of the improved stay, the ends of the stay are housed in a pocket in the hem of the garment and the seam or row of stitching fastening the hem to the body of the garment passes over the end of the stay and the prongs or side Walls of the adjacent end of the stay are fastened in place by the stitches.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise constructions herein disclosed and that various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent 1. Reinforce means for a garment comprising an elongated stay having a rectangular-shaped solid body of hard material resistant to piercing by a needle, the ends of the body being slotted longitudinally thereof to provide at least three prongs, the slots and prongs being so spaced so as to permit the needle of a sewing machine to reciprocate in the slots without striking the prongs and so as to permit the stay to be stitched in place by lines of stitching across the ends thereof.

2. The reinforce means for a garment as set forth in claim 1, wherein the outer ends of the prongs are enlarged to prevent lateral movement of the prong ends.

3. The reinforce means for a garment as set forth in claim 1, wherein the prongs are connected at their outer ends to prevent lateral movement of the prongs toward or away from each other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 343,476 Moschcowitz June 8, 1886 896,022 IanoWi-tz Aug. 11, 1908 1,121,331 Dean Dec. 15, 1914 1,231,089 Stebbins et a1. June 26, 1917 

1. REINFORCE MEANS FOR A GARMENT COMPRISING AN ELONGATED STAY HAVING A RECTANGULAR-SHAPED SOLID BODY OF HARD MATERIAL RESISTANT TO PIERCING BY A NEEDLE, THE ENDS OF THE BODY BEING SLOTTED LONGITUDINALLY THEREOF TO PROVIDE AT LEAST THREE PRONGS, THE SLOTS AND PRONGS BEING SO SPACED SO AS TO PERMIT THE NEEDLE OF A SEWING MACHINE TO RECIPROCATE IN THE SLOTS WITHOUT STRIKING THE PRONGS AND SO AS TO PERMIT THE STAY TO BE STITCHED IN PLACE BY LINES OF STITCHING ACROSS THE ENDS THEREOF. 